Green Day Sparks Controversy With Upcoming Woman's Guide Penned and Illustrated by Men

Green Day shocked fans with the announcement of an upcoming book on Tuesday, one that is now the center of an internet debate due to the book's subject matter. The forthcoming graphic novel titled Last of the American Girls—an ode to their song of the same name from the 2009 album 21st Century Breakdown—had no women creatives involved in the project.

Last Of The American Girls is said to be "an inspiring homage and handbook for the rebellious everywoman who refuses to capitulate," according to the band's publisher, Dey Street Books, in a statement to Rolling Stone.

The book, slated to be released on October 29, is penned by Green Day musicians Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt. In addition to the three men, cartoonist Frank Caruso was enlisted to illustrate the novel. Fans seem to understand the role of the three band members, but questioned why a female illustrator was not asked to be a part of the project, according to conversations on Twitter.

Others questioned the subject matter altogether, wondering why Green Day felt inclined to write a book about women in the first place. Though neither the band nor the publisher have revealed much about the content of the graphic novel, some fans online have assumed it may be a guide to living life as a woman, which they see as inappropriate coming from four men.

Those who are in full support of the band's latest creative project assume the book will not fall into offensive terrain, and won't aim to tell any woman how to live. In all, the conversation, which eventually trended on Twitter, centered around a premature disappointment surrounding Green Day's decision to write a female-oriented book for two reasons. The first, they are men themselves, and the second, they used their first book project to project potential guidelines for a female, rebel lifestyle instead of using the platform for something closer to their level of expertise.

Armstrong formerly revealed the song which inspired the book began as a project about his wife, but evolved. "Then I started getting into more of my own beliefs—anything from a little book of conspiracies to playing vinyl records or something," he told Blunt. "It's sort of about an empowering, sort of subterranean kind of lifestyle, but at the same time there's a new era coming in with the way we all need to live."